Throughput analysis system and method

ABSTRACT

The present invention provides a throughput monitoring and analysis system and method, comprising: a factor-fetching means and a terminal means. Wherein the factor-fetching means fetches a plurality of raw time data of the production factors corresponding to selected operation events during execution of operation events of the complex machine. The terminal means stores the time data and related information of the production factors and displaying the monitoring results according to set required condition and the data and information.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

[0001] This application claims the priority benefit of Taiwan application serial no. 91106566, filed Apr. 2, 2002.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] 1. Field of the Invention

[0003] The present invention relates in general to a system and a method capable of monitoring and analyzing the execution time of each operation event of a complex machine, and more particularly, to a system and a method to continuously monitor the problems that affect the throughput of the operation procedures. 2. Description of the Related Art

[0004] The conventional throughput analysis of production machine can only analyze the throughput from the production record of a single machine. However, if only one machine is analyzed, the problems that reduce the overall throughput cannot be located from either the fabrication event or the complex production equipment. Even if an analysis result is obtained, the objective of increasing throughput cannot be achieved by this way because it does not provide a global analysis of the entire event. In addition, the production record of the conventional machine cannot be obtained in real time. The analyzed record data includes only the sum of production time of the machine as shown as the upper part of FIG. 1. Only the data for one day or one month ago can be analyzed. The analyzed data cannot allow the machine operator to resolve the problem in real time.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0005] The invention provides a throughput analysis system that collects more than two production time data for different machines simultaneously. The operation procedure of the machine can be obtained. In addition, the system is a real time analysis tool. Each time when the operation event of a batch of products is complete, the system obtains the analysis data of the products immediately.

[0006] The monitoring system of the present invention can monitor at least a machine unit comprising a complex machine and a machine server. Wherein the machine server controls the execution of at least one operation of the complex machine and each operation further comprises a plurality of production factors.

[0007] The diagram illustrates that present invention provides fetching of time data of the production factor in every time segment of a complex machine. The operator can resolve the problem immediately by comparing the actual production to the predetermined production. The time data of the production factors are analyzed to pinpoint the delay in which segment for instant correction of the problem.

[0008] The present invention provides a throughput monitoring and analysis system comprising: a factor-fetching means and a terminal means. Wherein the factor-fetching means is used to fetch the raw time data corresponding to respective factor at certain operation stage in the operation event. The terminal means is used to store time data and related information of the production factors for conveniently displaying the analysis results based upon the stored data and information in accordance with a required condition set by the user. Wherein the production factor comprises a point indicating an idle time between two actions. The monitoring result is the actual average throughput in terms of one operation event. Alternatively, the monitoring result can also be the analysis and statistics of various events with respect to a selected production factor. The terminal means further comprises a standard value setting device for setting optimum standard values of the production factors that correspond to each event by a selected mathematical function according to the stored data. Furthermore, the terminal means can set a time frame for the production according to the set optimum standard values. As a result, the user can accurately analyze the throughput of the complex machine to determine any problem. The terminal means further comprises an abnormality indicating device for comparing the time required for the actual production to the time set according to the standard value and displaying the results indicating any abnormality. Therefore the user can easily visualize which operation is causing delay for immediate correction. Moreover the terminal means can be programmed with predetermined error messages so the cause of the abnormality can be immediately displayed for quickly resolving the problem.

[0009] The present invention also provides a monitoring method for monitoring at least one complex machine when executing operation events, wherein each execution of operation events comprises a plurality of production factors.

[0010] The monitoring method comprising: fetching and storing the time data of the selected production factor of an operating machine; and analyzing and displaying the results according to the set required condition and stored data.

[0011] Both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the invention, as claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0012]FIG. 1 is a schematic drawing of the prior art and the present invention;

[0013]FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the present invention;

[0014]FIG. 3a is the schematic drawing of the photolithography machine unit of the present invention;

[0015]FIG. 3b is the timing diagram of the throughput analysis of the present invention;

[0016]FIG. 4 is a schematic drawing indicating the idle time between two actions of the present invention;

[0017]FIG. 5 is a time chart of the average production time for loading wafers of the present invention;

[0018]FIG. 6a is a schematic drawing illustrating the abnormality with special markings of the present invention;

[0019]FIG. 6b is a schematic drawing illustrating the cause of the abnormality indicated in FIG. 6a ;

[0020]FIG. 7 is a flow chart of the present invention;

[0021]FIG. 8 is a flow chart of the present invention; and

[0022]FIG. 9 is a flow chart illustrating the set of standard values of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0023] Please refer to FIG. 2, it illustrates an embodiment of the throughput monitoring and analysis system according to the present invention. The system can monitor at least one machine unit such as complex machine unit 200 or machine unit 210. The system performs an analysis on a plurality of time data output from a complex machine. The complex machine comprises at least one kind of a plurality of machines, each of which executes at least one operation event.

[0024] A machine unit can comprise of a complex machine and a single machine. Machine unit 200, for example, comprises a complex machine 209 and a machine server 202. Wherein the complex machine 209 comprises an upper photoresist developing machine control machine 204 and an exposing machine control machine 206. The machine server 202 is used to control the complex machine 209 to execute at least one operation event wherein the operation event is called a production factor.

[0025] The throughput monitoring and analysis system of the present invention is capable of monitoring a plurality of machine units 200 and 210. The following describes the operation of a machine unit 200, which can also be used to operate a single complex machine.

[0026] The monitoring system comprises a factor-fetching means 208 and a terminal means 230. The factor-fetching means 208 is disposed in the original control program of the machine server 202 and is used for fetching raw time data which corresponds to the selected production factors during execution of various operation events. The time data is immediately sent to a SECSII interface device (not shown). Therefore every machine server has a throughput-extracting device 208.

[0027] The terminal means 230, through the SECSII interface device, immediately receives and stores the time data of the corresponding production factors of all related data (such as which operation and which machine). The received data is used for calculations, analysis, and display according to the predetermined required condition set by the user. Fundamentally, the terminal means 230 has a data server 220, a readable and writable data analysis means 234, and an I/O device 236. The terminal means 230 can analyze or calculate according to the data stored in data server 220 and display the monitoring results the user requires.

[0028] In FIG. 3a, a complex machine 209 such as a photolithography machine comprises an exposure control machine 209 and a photoresist development control machine 204. The exposure control machine 209 and the photoresist development control machine 204 are responsible for different work but are required to simultaneously perform the same operation.

[0029] The photoresist development control machine 204 forms a photoresist layer on each of the wafers transmitted from the load ports 314, 316 and 318 according to the recipe provided during loading event. The wafers with the photoresist layers are temporarily stored in the exposure buffer area 312. After exposure with the photomask by the exposure control machine 206, the wafers are sent back to the photoresist development control machine 204 for development. The wafers are then unloaded from the photoresist development control machine 204.

[0030] A series of operation procedures are executed from loading till unloading of wafers. These operation procedures can be of different kinds. A time data is generated for each of the above operation event. In the operation event shown in FIG. 3b, the timing for individually loading the wafers in the 3 load ports is illustrated. In each operation event, there is a starting point and an end point. The time data of the operation event of the complex machine is immediately fetched by the factor-fetching means to generate the exact starting time. The time consumption for each of the operation events is listed as follows.

[0031] TL: time for loading the wafer by the photoresist development control machine;

[0032] TC: time for forming the photoresist layer in the photoresist development control machine;

[0033] Tloss: idle time for the wafer spent in the exposure control machine;

[0034] Tinit: time for preparing exposure of the exposure control machine;

[0035] Texp: time for exposure of the exposure control machine;

[0036] TD: time for development of the photoresist exposure control machine; and

[0037] TU: time for unloading the wafer from the photoresist development control machine.

[0038] The time data of the production factor is sent to the data server 220 through SECSII interface and stored for analysis means 234 to analyze.

[0039] Analysis means 234 is a program analyzing software which can calculate the actual average throughput of the events of the complex machine 209 in a single time segment. The actual average throughput is obtained by dividing the total throughput of the complex machine 209 in a predetermined time segment by the actual time of the events of the complex machine 209. Furthermore, the production factor can be analyzed and determined according to the required condition set by the user. The I/O device 236 is used for inputting the required monitoring condition by the users and for displaying the calculation and analysis results from the analysis means 234 to the user.

[0040] Please refer to FIG. 3B, it illustrates the calculation of the average throughput from the analysis means 234. The time for loading the wafers in the 3 load ports till unloading the wafer is set as the predetermined time segment. The exact execution time of the complex machine for loading 3 load ports in a predetermined time frame can be determined from the diagram. Although the 3 load ports separately execute its individual operation event, the execution time of the production factor of each load port still overlaps each other and therefore known as a complex machine. When load port 1 unloads the first wafer (production factor of Tu1), load port 2 can place the second wafer into the exposure region 312 (production factor of Tu2: when exposure control machine 306 is ready to expose) for preparation of exposure.

[0041]FIG. 4 explains the calculation method of the production factor of Tloss. As illustrated in FIG. 4, when complex machine performs exposure on the N+1 wafer, in theory exposure is performed on the N wafer and photoresist is performed on the N+1 wafer but the timing of the photoresist performed on the N+2 wafer is delayed until it is approximately equal to the development time of the N+1 wafer. As a consequence, the time after exposure of the N+1 wafer and before exposure of the N+2 wafer on the exposure control machine 206 is the non-continuous execution time (Tloss) of the wafer. This time data of the production factor is also known as idling time.

[0042] Therefore the real average value can be calculated by applying the below mathematical function after obtaining the time data corresponding to the predetermined production factors.

Real average value=Actual production of wafers (Wafer out)/Actual production time (Hour)

Actual production of wafers (Wafers out)=W1+W2+ . . . +WN

Actual production time (Hours)=TL1+TC1+[(Tinit1+W1*Texp1)+(Tloss+Tinit2+W2*Texp2)+ . . . +(TlossN+TinitN+WN*TexpN)]+TDN +TUN

[0043] Wherein W represents the production volume of wafers of the 3 load ports in a predetermined time frame. The actual production time of this embodiment is:

TL1+TC1+[(Tinit1+W1*Texp1)+(Tloss+Tinit2+W2*Texp2)+(Tloss3+Tinit3+W3*Texp3)]+TD3+TU3.

[0044] The average throughput in a single time segment within the predetermined time segment is the total production of the 3 load ports on the same event in the predetermined time segment divided by the actual production time.

[0045] By using the above calculation method, an accurate event throughput in a single time segment for throughput quality analysis can be obtained, due to the continuous timing of the stepping machine.

[0046] Furthermore, analysis means 234 can analyze the related information and time data of the production factors in data server 220 and output the inefficiency pinpointing to the quality of a specific operation of the complex machine. Alternatively, the analyzed data can be directly displayed to I/O device 236.

[0047] Otherwise, analysis means 234 can generate a variety of reports and charts according to the data of the related information and time data of the production factors stored in data server 220. In FIG. 5, the production factor “loading of wafer” is obtained by collecting the average time that each complex machine requires to load a lot of wafers in a predetermined time segment. It is also equal to the production factor “TL” of all complex machine units in the same time frame calculated by the analysis means 234 according to the data stored in data server 220.

[0048] Results from the operation indicate that machine PH003 requires the longest time for loading wafers, therefore evidently, the operator can determine whether the production factor of machine PH003 is normal and investigate the problem.

[0049] Analysis means 234 can further comprise a default setting device (not shown) for analyzing and displaying abnormalities of the production factors and an abnormality indication device for indicating any abnormalities in the operation. According to the standard values of the time data of the production factor in every operation stored in the data server 220, the analysis means 234 can display a report of abnormality in the I/O device 236. The abnormality indication device will indicate any abnormality in a different color such as pink, as illustrated in FIG. 6a.

[0050] If we purposefully delay the time data of the production factor of a certain complex machine, for example PH006, according to the analysis report in FIG. 6b, the abnormality indication device will display the abnormality in red (611, 612, 613, 618). By examination, the cause of the delay is found to be at the photoresist control machine when raw material 41 is converted into raw material 24 or vice versa. As a result, the problem can be immediately addressed and solved so the timing of wafer execution will not be discontinued to prevent decrease in production throughput.

[0051] The standard values mentioned above can be directly inputted to the data server by the user or can be generated by a standard value setting device (not shown). The generated standard values are shared with the temporary storage devices. The standard value setting device uses a predetermined mathematical function to set the optimum standard values of the production factors according to the stored data and information of the production factor. For example, the standard value setting device can automatically generate the default time data for a selected operation with a given production factor according to the average value obtained from the data.

[0052] Furthermore, the abnormality indication device of the analysis means 234 can also indicate abnormality of the production factor. For example, a ‘cause’ database can be established in the data server 220 for use by the analysis means 234. The analysis means 234 will assign a first cause for the delay of the time data of a certain production factor when it overruns the first predetermined time and displays the first cause in the I/O device 236. When the time data of the same production factor extends the second predetermined time, a second cause will be displayed. The abnormality with special markings (621, 622, 624) in the production factor of initiating exposure is illustrated in FIG. 6(b) for example.

[0053]FIGS. 7, 8, and 9 are the flow charts of the monitoring steps according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention.

[0054] The monitoring event is mainly divided into two parts, the first part is the immediate fetching and storing and the second part is readily inquiring and analyzing. The fetching and storing process is illustrated in step 701 in FIG. 7. When complex machine starts the process, factor-fetching means 208 will immediately fetch the time data and related information corresponding to the initializing point of the selected event. After the fetching of the time data, step 702 is performed to send the time data to the terminal means 230 in the data server 220. The time data is then stored in the data server 220 for analysis in later stages, this ends the first part of the event.

[0055] When the user wants to inquire the results of the monitoring, the monitoring event enters the second part which is the inquiring and analyzing event, as illustrated in FIG. 8. In step 801, the user sets the fields of inquiry such as the items, time, format, required condition, etc . . . through the I/O device 236. Following in step 802, the analysis means 234 can determine if throughput analysis is required. If so, in step 803, the WPH is calculated using the data stored in data server 220 according to the various kinds of events of the complex machine. In step 804, it is determined whether “abnormal” should be displayed. If so, in step 805, a standard value of the selected event is obtained for comparing, and in step 806, the results are displayed on the I/O device 236 according to the inquiry items set by the user. If in step 804, it is determined that there is no abnormality, the event will proceed to step 806 to display the content. Furthermore, back in step 802, if the content of inquiry and determination does not involve throughput analysis, it will automatically jump to step 804 and continue according to the above procedures.

[0056] In step 805, the standard value can be a value set by the user or an automatically generated standard value according to the production factor data obtained by the monitoring system. FIG. 9 illustrates the standard value setting device for obtaining an optimum standard value in the setting step. For this reason, the analysis means 234 has a programmed mathematical function to perform the calculations. By entering a setup mode, the analysis means 234 can set the standard value according to the average value or additional calculations from for example various kinds of events the complex machine.

[0057]FIG. 9 illustrates the part where the standard values are set. In step 901, it is determined whether the standard value is directly inputted or is set by the monitoring system. If the standard value is to be set, in step 902, the production factor of the standard value is determined. Following in step 903, the data is obtained from server 220. In step 904, a mathematical function is run to perform the calculations. Lastly, in step 905, the standard value is stored in the data server 200. If the standard value is to be directly inputted back in step 901, the process proceeds to step 905, the standard values are directly inputted, this process ends.

[0058] The above embodiment specifically uses a photolithography machine as the complex machine unit for manufacturing circuitry but it is not limited to any certain kind of manufacturing machine unit. The throughput analysis system of the present invention is applicable to any machine unit of any industry for manufacturing any product. The system monitors and analyses every single throughput time segment of the complex machine to locate the cause of the problem for easy correction by the operator.

[0059] The benefits of a complex machine is the adaptability of two or more different and multi-purpose machines in a different configurations such as having some identical machines and the rest different. The system of the present invention analyses the average throughput and the time data of every time segment for accurate and efficient monitoring.

[0060] Other embodiments of the invention will appear to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the invention disclosed herein. It is intended that the specification and examples to considered as exemplary only, with a true scope and spirit of the invention being indicated by the following claims. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A throughput monitoring and analysis system for monitoring at least one machine unit comprising a complex machine and a machine server, wherein the machine server is used for controlling at least one operation event of the complex machine having a plurality of production factors, the system comprising: a factor-fetching means for fetching at real time a plurality of raw time data corresponding to respective factor at certain operation stage in the operation event; and a terminal means for storing the raw time data and its related information of respective production factors and displaying monitoring results based upon the data and information in accordance with a required condition.
 2. The system in claim 1, wherein the production factors comprise a point indicating an idle time between two actions.
 3. The system in claim 1, wherein the terminal means comprising: a data server for storing the raw time data and related information; an analysis means for analyzing the data and information stored in the data server in accordance with the required condition and resulting in a monitoring result; and an I/O device for inputting the required condition and outputting the monitoring results.
 4. The system in claim 1, wherein the monitoring result is an actual average throughput in term of one operation event.
 5. The system in claim 1, wherein the monitoring result is an analysis and statistics of various events with respect to a selected production factor.
 6. The system in claim 1, wherein the raw time data are actual starting/ending time of the production factor.
 7. The system in claim 1, wherein the factor-fetching means is installed in the machine server.
 8. The system in claim 3, wherein the terminal means comprises a standard value setting device for setting a standard value of respective production factor.
 9. The system in claim 8, wherein the analysis means comprises an abnormality indication device for comparing the raw time data and information to the standard values and displaying the monitoring results with special abnormalities markings.
 10. The system in claim 8, wherein the analysis means comprises a standard value setting device for setting optimum standard values of various production factors by a predetermined mathematical function according to the data of the production factor stored in the terminal means.
 11. The system in claim 9, wherein the abnormality device displays a cause for the abnormalities.
 12. The system in claim 1, wherein the machine unit is a photolithography control machine unit comprising a photoresist development control machine and an exposure control machine.
 13. A throughput monitoring and analysis method for monitoring at least a machine unit comprising a complex machine and a machine server, wherein the machine server is used for controlling at least one operation event of the complex machine having a plurality of production factors, the method comprising: fetching raw time data and its related information corresponding to respective production factors at certain operation stage in the operation event; storing the raw time data and its related information of respective production factors and displaying monitoring results based upon the data and information in accordance with a required condition; analyzing the data and information stored in the data server in accordance with the required condition and resulting in a monitoring result; and displaying the monitoring results.
 14. The method of claim 13, wherein the monitoring result is an actual average throughput in terms of one operation event.
 15. The method of claim 13, wherein the monitoring result is an analysis and statistics of various events with respect to a selected production factor.
 16. The method of claim 13, wherein the production factors comprise a point indicating an idle time between two actions.
 17. The method of claim 13 further comprises setting standard values for setting the standard values of respective production factor.
 18. The method of claim 17 further comprises setting optimum standard values by a predetermined function according to the stored data and information of the production factors.
 19. The method of claim 17 further comprises comparing the time data and related information to the standard values and displaying the monitoring results with special abnormalities markings.
 20. The method of claim 19, wherein the special markings comprise a cause of the abnormalities. 